Community Grants Committee
Purpose and Description

Purpose: To evaluate requests for financial donations and support that come to Washington and Lee from the Lexington/Rockbridge community and to provide the Vice President for Finance and Administration and the President a recommendation for distribution of available funds.

The greater Lexington community, Washington and Lee University, and Virginia Military Institute are heavily dependent on one another. The people and businesses of Lexington/Rockbridge depend on W&L and VMI for employment opportunities (both on and off campus) and they enjoy many other benefits that the institutions provide, including cultural and educational programs, social events, athletics, arts, and service projects. W&L is, in fact, one of the county's largest employers.

The City of Lexington and surrounding Rockbridge community, represent one of W&L's most attractive features. To that end, W&L should be an active partner in its growth and development. For many reasons, it is in the University's interest to give back to the communities in which we are located, and from time to time it is appropriate for the University to consider funding requests from the community.

Over the years W&L's evaluation of community solicitations and contributions to those requests has been ad hoc in nature, without a formal structure. W&L has formalized this evaluation process to help ensure an evenhanded and consistent approach to the process. To this end, the Community Grants Committee was established in March, 2008. The committee has a $50,000 annual budget and meets twice a year to evaluate proposals. Submission deadlines are: by the end of the work day (4:30 p.m.) on Friday, November 7, 2014 and Friday, April 17, 2015.